1. Technical Field
The invention concerns a device for storing a number of cassettes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A universal connecting unit for optical fibers is known from DE-A-44 05 666. This connecting unit comprises a hooded collar with a socket head and a hood. The socket head contains several feed-throughs in which a main cable can be inserted into the socket and a branch cable can be taken out. An attachment shackle is secured to the socket head and has a rear wall from which a number of cassettes can swivel outward. The cassettes have an oval shape and contain individual fiber splices, bundled conductor splices, couplers, adapters for branching bundled conductors to individual fibers, or slack lengths of the optical fibers. The special advantage of the connecting unit is that it is able to hold a different number of cassettes of different heights. Another advantage is the good accessibility to the individual splices which are allocated to a subscriber and are always stored in a separate cassette.
This arrangement has the disadvantage that the main cable is inserted into the socket, which entails problems with the sealing of the inlet area in the socket head. Another disadvantage is that only oval cassettes can be used.
From the older German patent application 197 05 648.2 by the applicant, a socket for optical fibers with a number of cassettes is known, where each one is individually accessible and can store a slack length of an optical fiber. The socket is premanufactured at the factory so that the ends of the optical fibers can be connected to the optical fibers to be branched out from an optical cable.